Star Wars: New Report Claims Netflix Deal Is to Blame for Game of Thrones Creators' Departure
The Star Wars franchise suffered another major setback because of the departure of David Benioff [...]
The Star Wars franchise suffered another major setback because of the departure of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the former showrunners of HBO's hit series Game of Thrones who were supposed to helm a brand new trilogy in the ongoing Lucasfilm franchise. Disney even set release dates for their next three films, but now those plans are thrown into question because of Weiss and Benioff's exit. Early reports about the split between the two seemingly stem back to two specific events: one has to do with the poor reception of the final season of Game of Thrones, while the other points toward the lucrative Netflix deal Weiss and Benioff signed shortly after their Star Wars plans were announced.
A report from The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy was skeptical of the pair's ability to focus on two projects at the same time, especially when it came to a new Star Wars trilogy, shortly after they signed their development deal with Netflix.
In multiple interviews since their Star Wars deal was announced, Weiss and Benioff said that they would not work on the project until their commitment to Game of Thrones was fulfilled; their final episode premiered in mid-May, and their new Netflix deal was announced in August — just as they were supposed to begin development of their Star Wars project.
According to the report, Kennedy was skeptical of the pair's ability to multitask between multiple projects, especially given their own statements about how they prefer to focus on one production at a time. Benioff and Weiss apparently told potential suitors, including Netflix, that they were planning to juggle their development slate with the Star Wars trilogy they were committed to at the time.
This reportedly irked Kennedy, who did not appreciate the fact that they signed on for a massive development deal with Netflix in addition to their duties to the Star Wars franchise. This could have possibly lead to the appointment of Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige developing a Star Wars movie.
Other Star Wars projects are still on the table, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi filmmaker Rian Johnson's proposed plan for a trilogy. The first of the announced projects, it now sounds like his plans could be next in line to make their way to the big screen now that Weiss and Benioff are out of the picture.